College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources has developed this Statement on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).

You may also be interested in the MSU Land Acknowledgement.

Short Statement

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are important, interdependent components of everyday life in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) and are critical to our pursuit of academic excellence.

Our aim is to foster a culture where every member of CANR feels valued, supported and inspired to achieve individual and common goals with an uncommon will. This includes providing opportunity and access for all people across differences of race, age, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, religion, national origin, migratory status, disability/abilities, political affiliation, veteran status and socioeconomic background.

Full Statement

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are important, interdependent components of everyday life in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) and are critical to our pursuit of academic excellence.

For the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Diversity includes characteristics of race, age, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, religion, national origin, migratory status, disability/abilities, political affiliation, veteran status and socioeconomic background. It also includes differences in backgrounds, ideas, thought, values and beliefs.  Embracing differences make us better learners, teachers, leaders, scholars, researchers, extension educators, employees and students. This is operationalized by embedding equity in all of our structures and practices.

Equity requires providing justice, fairness and access to opportunities and resources for all members of the campus community. In creating and sustaining a climate where equity and mutual respect are intrinsic, we are nurturing a success-oriented, cooperative and caring college where we attract and retain people and partners who feel comfortable contributing their unique wisdom, perspectives and experiences.

To be an Inclusive college is to respect everyone, value differences, acknowledge the impact of differences and to capitalize on those differences by drawing on the intellectual strength that produces innovative solutions from the synergy of our people. Our aim is to foster a culture where every member of CANR feels valued, supported and inspired to achieve individual and common goals with an uncommon will.

Foundational Principles

• In keeping with the responsible pursuit of our land grant mission, we acknowledge that the work of CANR takes place on Indigenous lands and in Indigenous spaces. Within the Great Lakes region, CANR resides on the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary Lands of the Anishinaabeg—Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi people. CANR is committed to affirming Indigenous sovereignty, histories, perspectives, experiences and knowledges.
• Our disciplines have not been historically and are not currently representative of the diversity of perspectives and backgrounds that make up Michigan, our nation and our world.
• The future of our agriculture and natural resources disciplines depends on our ability to incorporate emerging, as well as historically marginalized people and perspectives into our science, our teaching, and all of our work to meet current and future challenges.
• As individuals, we all carry our identities into our personal and professional interactions. We encourage our community members to seek out opportunities to learn from those with perspectives different from their own.
• All of our work relies on our individual and institutional ability to build authentic and trusting relationships and partnerships across all aspects of human differences.
• The capacity to create inclusive environments is a professional leadership skill, and we strive to provide opportunities for our professionals to develop those skills.
• The processes CANR utilizes to admit, grade, recruit, hire, retain, evaluate and grant continuing status and/or tenure to our faculty staff and students are opportunities to embed principles of equity in our structures.
• The skills required to create and sustain inclusive environments and to work in diverse environments are vital to the success of our graduates in the future of CANR disciplines and professions.

Presented by the CANR Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 3/25/2019